


Monsters and Millenniums

by Frangipanidownunder



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-09-17 18:24:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16979550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frangipanidownunder/pseuds/Frangipanidownunder
Summary: An Emily survived and lives with Scully AU. This is set during Millennium. It’s pure fluff.





	Monsters and Millenniums

She pulled the sheet over her ears, determined to block out the noise. It had started as a series of muffled grunts, but then came bumps and tapping, a bit of dragging. She burrowed down into the warmth under her blanket, picked at the scab on her knee, pulled Peanut, her elephant beanie baby, up under her chin. Peanut was a good friend. He listened. But, Emily reasoned, he probably wouldn’t be very good in a fight.

There were times when the stories Mom told were a bit frightening. FBI agents protected the American public and sometimes people did bad things. That’s when Mom became Special Agent Scully and went to work with her partner, Special Agent Fox Mulder. The man who didn’t like being called by his first name, or even being called Mister. He was just Mulder. Only Grandma Scully got to call him Fox. And when she did that he always blushed.

When Mom and Mulder went to work they sometimes had to do dangerous things. Mom had to work out why people died. She said death was like a puzzle and it was her job to put the pieces together. She said that sometimes Mulder had a knack for finding all the corner pieces first and then they had to build the frame before they could fill in the middle.

Mom knew how to shoot a gun. She shot her gun better than Mulder. He always laughed when she said that. But it was a high-pitched laugh that sounded like he was covering up for the truth. Emily had a laugh like that. It made her skin hot when she did that laugh.

Mom and Mulder had been working a case, which sucked because it was Millennium Eve, and she’d wanted to stay up and watch the celebrations with her. She liked the way Mom softened at nights. She’d take off her sharp suits and high heels, she’d remove all her makeup so you could see her freckles and her mole. She’d let her hair dry naturally so that it crinkled. She’d wear shiny pyjamas with big covered buttons and, in the winter, a fluffy white robe that Emily loved to snuggle against. Mom let her wear it once and it wasn’t that big, considering.

Mulder teased her Mom about her height but Emily thought he secretly liked being able to look down over her. Not to protect her, because Mom always said she didn’t need that, but more like as a best friend who really wanted everything to be safe and happy. Mom never saw the way he looked when she was busy round the apartment. He had a special expression. His eyes sort of shone and he kind of held his mouth half-open like there was always something he wanted to tell Mom but never did. A good secret.

She was still thinking about that face when a loud bang followed by a smash made her sit up. Peanut slipped from her grasp and flopped to the floor making a soft hushing sound where his beanbag innards spread on the polished boards. Her heart hit her ribcage like the hammer on her drumkit. It hurt as she tried to keep her breathing from becoming as loud as the noises. She knew she should wake Grandma Scully, but she was snoring softly on the rollout bed and looked so peaceful. Mom said she shouldn’t wake Grandma unless she really, really had to. That she was getting to be a big girl who didn’t need her hand held everywhere. But with the noises getting more and more scary outside Emily didn’t feel much like a big girl tonight and all she really wanted to do was have her hand held.

Emily swung her legs out of the covers and pushed herself to the floor so quietly that she felt like she had beanbag innards too. She tucked Peanut into the crook of her elbow and sat on the rug a while, picking at the loose threads in rhythm to Grandma Scully’s breathing. There was silence outside now. And that was scarier than the noises. The silence was so heavy that Emily felt it pushing down on her head, holding her to the spot so that she couldn’t move even if she wanted to.

There was a sting in each eye, a pain in her chest. Her throat was scratchy. She wanted so badly to call out for her Mom. If she were here, she’d turn on the light and walk to her bed, wrapping the robe around her waist. The bed would sink a little, she’d stroke Emily’s hair away from her face and kiss her forehead, both cheeks, her nose and her chin.

“The shape of a cross to ward off those scary dreams,” she’d say, and her voice would be all swirly with tiredness and love. Sometimes, Mom would read to her a little. Matilda was a favourite at the moment. And The Secret Garden and Heidi. She would dream about visiting those places in Europe with the old houses and mansions and castles.

Grandma Scully spluttered and sighed and turned over in the bed. The covers rustled. Emily held her breath hoping that she’d wake up, but she didn’t. She just sighed. Her hand flopped out of the covers, dangling within temptation’s reach. Maybe she could just sit next to Grandma’s bed and hold her hand until Mom came home. Emily slid across the floor, Peanut squished against her heart, and reached out for Grandma Scully’s fingers. As she curled her hand inside, there was a long, low rumbling sound. Thunder inside the house. Emily felt her breaths coming out in hot spurts and she couldn’t help but whimper into Peanut’s soft body.

“What’s the matter, Emily, angel? Why are you on the floor?”

Grandma Scully pushed back her covers and Emily climbed up, clinging to her side like the vine on the trellis in her garden.

“Emily?”

“There’s a monster outside.”

Grandma Scully dropped a kiss on her head and pulled her tighter. “You know there are no such things as monsters.” But she said it like she didn’t really mean it. Like the way Mulder laughed.

“There have been strange noises.”

“It’s probably just your Mom, angel.”

“But she would have come in to say goodnight.”

“How about I go take a look?”

Emily tugged at her arm. “No! There’s monsters.”

Grandma Scully pulled a robe around her and pushed her feet into her slippers. She held Emily’s hands and smiled. “And there’s me.”

The way she said it, strong like Mom, made Emily feel taller and braver. “Then I’m coming with you.”

They walked hand in hand to the door but before Grandma Scully opened it, Emily grabbed the Socker Boppers that Mulder had given her on her last birthday. Mom had frowned when she opened them but Mulder bopped her on the nose with one and she gave him a funny smile.

“Just in case,” she said to Grandma Scully who dutifully put one onto her hand but Emily didn’t feel much like laughing at the oversized glove as she opened the door and followed her into the darkness of the apartment.

She gripped Grandma Scully’s free hand as they padded towards the living room. A muffled groan, almost a growl, broke the silence and Emily raised the Socker Bopper ready to strike. Grandma Scully flicked on the hall lamp, casting light over the couch.

And Mom’s head popped up, finger pressed to her lips, urging them to keep quiet. Grandma Scully smiled and let out a sigh of relief. Emily ran round the couch to her Mom’s side and sat next to her. Mulder was asleep, snuffling out moans and sighs. His shoulder was in a bandage and his face was screwed up in pain.

“He’s going to be okay,” Mom whispered. “But I just wanted him to get some sleep. Sorry if we woke you. Let’s get you back to bed.” She bumped the Socker Bopper and smiled. “I don’t think you’ll need this. Here, let me take it off.”

“And hers?” Grandma Scully raised her giant plastic fist and hid a giggle into her other hand.

Emily’s bed was still warm and she slipped under the covers, nestling Peanut against the side of the pillow. Mom sat down and stroked her hair off her face.

“We’re safe here, Emily.”

“Mulder is protecting us?”

She didn’t laugh exactly, but it was pretty close. “You need to sleep now.”

“Mom?”

“Yes.”

“Do you love Mulder?”

Grandma Scully made the same laugh as her Mom.

“Of course,” she said, but it was a sort of quick answer, high-pitched. And she pushed the covers up a bit too high around Emily’s neck.

“Have you ever kissed him?”

Grandma Scully cleared her throat and the rollout bed creaked as she lay down. Mom looked across at her, but Grandma had turned her back and sounded like she was already snoring.

“Erm…yes. Sort of. I mean. Yes, just…” Mom scratched at the underside of her chin. “Mulder kissed me just a little while ago. For the New Year. It’s a sort of tradition.”

“So you’ve kissed him every New Year’s Eve?”

“Well, no. That’s not…we kissed this year, because it’s special.”

The door opened and Mulder walked in. His hair was sticking up and he winced. Mom turned towards him and she did one of her big smiles before she stood up and told him to go back to bed.

He didn’t move. He waved at Emily. “This where the party at?”

“Mulder.” Mom used her warning voice but Mulder just made a silly face that made Emily laugh.

“How about a bedtime story, Emily?”

“Mulder.”

“S’okay, Scully, promise I won’t tell her the one about the zom…”

“Mulder!”

Grandma Scully and Mom both said it at the same time and he held up his hands, only to pull another face when he remembered his bad shoulder. Mom stood up and fussed over him, checking his forehead. He sighed a lot.

“Everybody’s going to bed,” she said firmly.

“Okay, doc.” Mulder grinned and walked to the side of Emily’s bed and bent to kiss her. He smelled like hospitals. Mom bent to kiss her too and reached over to switch off the lamp.

“Mom?”

“Yes, Emily?”

“Are those hickeys around your neck?”

Mulder was still laughing so loudly that even the hiss of the kettle didn’t cover it up.


End file.
